Spatial and temporal variability in juvenile bivalve dispersal: effects of sediment transport and flow regime

Hunt, Heather L.; Maltais, Marie-Josée; Fugate, David C.; Chant, Robert J.

doi:10.3354/meps07131

Cited by 30 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Some species of bivalves (e.g., M. balthica) also disperse actively as juveniles by using byssal threads to increase drag and resuspension and may undergo active migrations after settlement (e.g., Armonies and Hellwig-Armonies 1992;Beukema 1993;Hiddink and Wolff 2002). Although juvenile M. arenaria produce byssal threads that can reduce their settling rate in the water column (Sigurdsson 1976), dispersal of juveniles of this species appears to occur primarily as bedload along with sediment that has been eroded (e.g., Hunt 2004Hunt , 2005Hunt et al 2007).…”

Section: Abundance and Distribution Of Juveniles In Coresmentioning

confidence: 98%

Settlement and Recruitment Patterns of the Soft-Shell Clam, Mya arenaria, on the Northern Shore of the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Bowen

Hunt

2009

Estuaries and Coasts

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To examine the roles of settlement and early postsettlement processes in the recruitment of the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, abundance of recent settlers and juveniles was monitored over two field seasons at four locations on the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada. Results showed great spatial and temporal variability in patterns of settlement. M. arenaria appeared to become highly vulnerable to postsettlement processes at a shell length of approximately 2 mm. Postsettlement processes drastically altered patterns of settlement less than 1 year after they were established. Results suggest that local factors at specific sites within the Bay of Fundy, such as hydrodynamics, larval behavior, and early postsettlement events, likely control the abundance of juvenile clams. Additionally, postsettlement events are extremely important in shaping M. arenaria populations in this area. Very few mature adult clams greater than 50 mm in shell length were found at any sampling sites, and no relationship was found between abundance of setters and density of juveniles and adults.

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Section: Abundance and Distribution Of Juveniles In Coresmentioning

confidence: 98%

Settlement and Recruitment Patterns of the Soft-Shell Clam, Mya arenaria, on the Northern Shore of the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Bowen

Hunt

2009

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…In contrast, at high-energy tidal locations (max. current speed: 90 cm s -1 ), a similar bivalve, Mya arenaria, has been reported as having daily transport rates exceeding their ambient density (Hunt et al 2007). In the ambient community, M. balthica was found to be most abundant with the largest variability over time at the most sheltered site, which indicates higher rates of recruitment and a preference for sheltered finer sediment sites.…”

Section: Species-specific Dispersal Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rates of post-larval bedload dispersal in a non-tidal soft-sediment system

Valanko¹,

Norkko²,

Norkko³

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Quantifying rates of dispersal and understanding patterns of colonization are key for predicting disturbance-recovery dynamics. For soft-sediment benthic communities recruitment is not restricted to one single event, but can be highly variable on several spatial and temporal scales. To investigate the temporal persistence of post-larval bedload transport in a non-tidal system, field experiments were conducted at 4 sites (5 m depth) across a wind-wave exposure gradient over 2 summers. Results indicate that bedload dispersal is temporally variable and dependent on an interaction between species-specific characteristics (including seasonal peaks in reproduction), site-specific hydrographic conditions, grain size characteristics and transport of sediments and drift algae. Dispersal of more passive taxa (Ostracoda, juvenile gastropods, Macoma balthica) was found to be associated with higher rates of sediment and algal transport, while more active species (Hydrobia ulvae and Potamopyrgus antipodarum) dispersed relatively more at sheltered sites. At higher rates of sediment transport, there was an increase in the proportion of larger M. balthica individuals dispersing, in contrast to Hydrobiidae, which had an increased proportion of smaller individuals. Our study suggests that frequent post-larval dispersal plays a central role in the population dynamics of many benthic invertebrates, in non-tidal systems. While the distribution of species is heavily influenced by peaked larval recruitment over large spatial scales, the net result of continuous small-scale dispersal events is clearly important and may contribute to the resilience of benthic communities.

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“…Distinguishing between these 2 processes is further complicated by the fact that infauna may be passively or actively redistributed after settlement. Waves and tidal currents, even in protected estuaries, erode juvenile clams and worms out of sediments and disperse them to other areas (Shull 1997, Hunt et al 2003, Lundquist et al 2004, Negrello Filho et al 2006, Hunt et al 2007, St-Onge & Miron 2007. This bedload transport may be actively used by mobile worms and by bivalves forming mucus threads (Sigurdsson et al 1976, Jennings & Hunt 2009, and is especially important for species without planktonic development (Shull 1997).…”

Section: Resale or Republication Not Permitted Without Written Consenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in recruitment does not drive the cline in diversity along an estuarine gradient

Dethier

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Spatial pattern and intensity of recruitment have substantial effects on adult community structure in some but not all marine systems. Such 'supply-side' effects have been relatively poorly studied in soft-sediment habitats because of the difficulty of sampling very small infaunal recruits. I investigated whether spatial patterns of infaunal recruitment along an estuarine gradient could account for the observed cline in adult diversity. On 9 occasions spread over 13 mo, cores of sterile sediment from 2 different sources were embedded in beaches along the estuarine axis of Puget Sound, Washington, and sampled 6 wk later for new recruits. Identities and abundances of recruits (mostly polychaetes and bivalves) varied among seasons, but differed little between sediments from different sources. Contrary to expectations, neither recruit richness nor abundance was lower at the southern (more estuarine) end of the gradient, where adult taxonomic diversity is low. For a number of taxa and time periods, recruitment was actually stronger at the southern beaches. Multivariate differences between assemblages of recruits and adults were much greater at the southern sites, indicating that post-recruitment processes at these sites modify diversity and abundance patterns initially established by recruitment. These processes could include predation on juveniles, adult -juvenile competition, or physiologically stressful abiotic conditions. KEY WORDS: Recruitment · Soft-sediment · Infauna · Estuarine · Supply-side · Polychaetes · Clams Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 410: [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] 2010 consistent from year to year, suggesting local flow regimes that allow larvae to disperse to those areas and settle out of the plankton effectively (reviewed in Olafsson et al. 1994, Snelgrove & Butman 1994, Fraschetti et al. 2002, also Wu & Shin 1997, Hunt et al. 2003. Nevertheless, sites with consistently high recruitment do not necessarily have large adult populations, illustrating the intervention of post-recruitment mortality (Olafsson et al. 1994). Predation on and bioturbation of larvae and juveniles can reduce abundance and impose new patterns on adult assemblages (e.g. Beukema & Dekker 2005, Pillay et al. 2007); however, experiments on these processes are often confounded by cage artifacts (Peterson 1979). Food subsidies for recruits are thought to affect growth more than survival (Peterson 1982, Olafsson et al. 1994, although food resource levels in surface sediments may affect both larval settlement behavior and subsequent survivorship. Abiotic factors such as sediment movement or physiologically stressful conditions can also affect survival (e.g. Labrune et al. 2007).Few field studies in soft sediments have quantified settlement per se (propagules reaching the bottom at a site) because of the difficulty of sampling very small infauna (Smith & Brumsickle 1989, Hunt et al. 2003, Reiss & Kroncke 2005, so patterns of recruitme...

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Spatial and temporal variability in juvenile bivalve dispersal: effects of sediment transport and flow regime

Cited by 30 publications

References 33 publications

Settlement and Recruitment Patterns of the Soft-Shell Clam, Mya arenaria, on the Northern Shore of the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Settlement and Recruitment Patterns of the Soft-Shell Clam, Mya arenaria, on the Northern Shore of the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Rates of post-larval bedload dispersal in a non-tidal soft-sediment system

Variation in recruitment does not drive the cline in diversity along an estuarine gradient

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